# Who would you bring back from history to show the modern world to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2023, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113 "2023-05-16T06:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/61 "2023-05-17T16:33:13Z")
I think it would be cool to bring an old style phonograph back to Beethoven and Mozart during their heydays, record their performances and play the tunes back to them. I’m sure they would have quickly grasped the idea of selling these records and making more money than they ever dreamed of. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/62 "2023-05-17T17:35:52Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > We have enough Nazi sympathizers in the 20th Century, thank you. > > Bringing back almost anybody from a hundred or more years ago would be like spending your days with an intolerant/racist/xenophobic/sexist/homophobic/superstitious /unhygienic/backwards uncle. That’s kind of the point. Henry was not really a visionary like his son, Edsel. But seeing what the world, and the cars, turned into 100 years later might have given him inspiration. Much of the technology would have been hopelessly in the future for him but he could have at least steered designs in the right direction. I have no idea of his Nazi feelings. Were there even Nazis back then? I’m talking about 1900 Henry Ford, not 1935 Henry Ford. And a quick brief about how the Nazis turned out might do wonders for his alliances. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/63 "2023-05-17T17:53:15Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Not something I’ve thought about before, but I did just see a Facebook meme to ‘Make Orwell Fiction Again.’ I’ve had that on t-shirt I got years ago. When people read it they give me a thumbs-up – metaphorical or literal. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/64 "2023-05-17T17:55:03Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I have no idea of his Nazi feelings. Were there even Nazis back then? I’m talking about 1900 Henry Ford, not 1935 Henry Ford. Regardless of whether they were called Nazi back then, they were definitely Nazi-adjacent feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/65 "2023-05-17T17:56:24Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Henry was not really a visionary like his son, Edsel. WTF? Henry Ford is widely given credit for creating much of the modern automotive industry. He went so far as to buy rubber plantations in South America so he could control the supply of raw materials for the tires his vehicles needed. He would totally “get” Elon Musk. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/66 "2023-05-17T20:37:47Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > I’d love to take Henry VIII to the present. Given how tyrannical he got during the course of his life and how badly he treated his wives, I’d love to see the culture shock he’d have when made to realize that today, the king cannot arbitrarily accuse someone of treason and have their head cut off, that women are equal to men, and that several women including two of his own daughters have sat on the throne since he died. I’d love to see the look of disbelief on his face when he realized that there are women in the police and the military, that men can no longer beat their wives, and that women no longer go around in floor-length skirts, nor do they cover their hair after marriage with and with hoods and veils like they did in his time, but that they often even wear short shorts and halter tops in public and no one bats an eye. > > OTOH, he’d probably be impressed by the fact that, thanks to him, England now has its own state church. ISTM that’s a waste of effort. There are still significant swathes of the world where things are still done _almost exactly_ like in Henry’s time. And plenty of privileged men still abuse women with near total impunity in the English-speaking world as well. Although beheading is right out. His reaction would be one of simple annoyance at the disaster that’s occurred to people if his class as seen from his POV. Same thing with bringing Hitler back to see modern Germany and it’s rejection of almost all aculturated nastiness. In his book that’d just be failure, not progress. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/67 "2023-05-17T20:59:43Z")
It would be fun to bring back Johannes Gutenberg, and see his reaction to the Internet. …then have him browse some porn sites and say, _“see what you started bub!”_ Also Hans Lipperhey (probable inventor of the telescope), and show him images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/68 "2023-05-17T23:28:42Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Beethoven was the Sid Vicious of his day…but, with supreme talent I’ve often thought that if Beethoven had been born in the late 1940s he would have become a heavy metal musician. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/69 "2023-05-17T23:45:38Z")
Assuming he existed (as a charismatic caring mortal or otherwise), Jesus Christ and show him what his church became, and take to GOP rallies and show him their Christian philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/70 "2023-05-17T23:53:30Z")
That might result in a sudden 50% reduction in the US population. And not in a good way. Do not rile the Jesus. [Which would be a pretty cool bumper sticker. I may have to publish those]. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/71 "2023-05-17T23:57:55Z")
I bet Marco Polo would have some great stories. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/72 "2023-05-18T03:52:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Do not rile the Jesus. > > [Which would be a pretty cool bumper sticker. I may have to publish those]. Hope you don’t get a cease and desist letter from John Turturro. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/73 "2023-05-18T03:55:35Z")
I often like to play these little thought games with myself, like what if I could snap someone from the past into my passenger seat as I drove through a city. Most often the person I think of is Benjamin Franklin. I’m not sure why, but I think he might actually not implode from shock and actually enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/74 "2023-05-18T04:19:34Z")
It might be fun to bring Cleopatra to 2023 so she can see that new Jada Pinkett-Smith documentary about her. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/75 "2023-05-18T04:39:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’d like to hear Mark Twain’s take on the modern world. First name that came to my mind. Second name: J.S. Bach, if only for him to see how the world eventually recognized what a towering genius he was. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/76 "2023-05-18T08:41:00Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I’d like to show the Wright Brothers a 747 taking off. Or show them this [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CrYmOEvDEUE/maxresdefault.jpg "Blue Angels Sneak Pass Reaction Chicago 2017 (Sunday)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYmOEvDEUE) They’d spontaneously invent the term “wtf” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/77 "2023-05-18T11:49:41Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > I’ve often thought that if Beethoven had been born in the late 1940s he would have become a heavy metal musician. From Tom Stoppard’s **The Real Thing** : > If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at twenty-two, the history of music would have been very different. As would the history of aviation. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/78 "2023-05-18T15:19:52Z")
Would Moses get into a dither about Dylan Mulvaney (the Bud Light spokesperson), or would his head have blown off long before he became acquainted with that particular cultural event? “Moses! Don’t cross the street in the middle of the block!” ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/79 "2023-05-18T16:11:25Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > [@mixdenny](#): > > > > Henry was not really a visionary like his son, Edsel. > > WTF? Henry Ford is widely given credit for creating much of the modern automotive industry. He went so far as to buy rubber plantations in South America so he could control the supply of raw materials for the tires his vehicles needed. He would totally “get” Elon Musk. Let me amend this. Yes, Henry Ford was enormously creative and got the whole “cars for everyone” thing started nicely. But then he stalled. He was happy the way things were even as the Dodge brothers and other manufacturers made increasingly modern cars. Edsel fought him tooth and nail over this but Henry wanted the status quo. He was at a dead end. And Fordlandia was a disaster. He didn’t understand how to grow rubber, he didn’t understand South American work ethics or culture. He thought he could bend nations and nature to his will. He couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113/80 "2023-05-18T16:25:44Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I have no idea of his Nazi feelings. Were there even Nazis back then? I’m talking about 1900 Henry Ford, not 1935 Henry Ford. Ford’s anti-Semitic activism dates from long before the thirties. He was getting into the act in the late teens, if not sooner. Ford’s production of war material for the Nazis and substantial revenues from that came much later. > **[Ford's Anti-Semitism | American Experience | PBS](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/)** > > Ford lent authority to the anti-Semitic fears and assumptions of many Americans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-bring-back-from-history-to-show-the-modern-world-to/984113.md?page=5)